The Giants scored three runs while Jake Arrieta was pitching, and all three required at least one screw-up by the Cubs: a throwing error, multiple wild pitches/passed balls, failure to cover a base, and allowing a runner to take a base without a pitch or a throw. It was … well, it was not good. From a fundamentals and defense perspective, the Cubs have been absolutely incredible this year. But this one? Boy. You just kinda shake your head.
For his part, Arrieta didn’t look too bad today (really good stuff, decent command), but Willson Contreras continues to have a little trouble handling him back there. That was, I suppose, to be expected, and is why the Cubs are endeavoring to get the two used to each other well in advance of the playoffs.[adinserter block=”1″][adinserter block=”10″]
Offensively, the Cubs stole a run on the back of Javy Baez and added another, but the mistakes weren’t limited to the pitching and defense as, for one example, Anthony Rizzo got caught straying too far from second base in the 9th inning, when he represented the tying run.
All in all, a pretty ugly game by the Cubs, and yet …
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